The Second Annual APSS Book Marketing University
October 24–25, 2014
Embassy Suites Airport Hotel • Philadelphia, PA
Sponsored by Bowker
The Association of Publishers for Special Sales is conducting its second annual Book Marketing University, with lots of great speakers and events. The program opens with a presentation by Dan Poynter, noted self-publishing guru. There will be an additional keynote by John Groton, former Vice President of Special Markets at Random House.
At Book Marketing University, you will discover how to sell your books in more ways than you ever imagined and to people you never knew existed— in large, non-returnable quantities.
Saturday, November 15, Bowker was pleased to be among those sponsoring the Self-Publishing Book Expo, which took place at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan. As Publishers Weekly put it,
Among the highlights of the show were panels providing indie authors with information, tips, and best practices on publicity, marketing, teambuilding, and websites. Among the exhibitors at the show were Lulu, Bowker, Smashwords, BiblioCrunch, BookLife, Author Connections, and Nook Press.
This is the sixth year of the conference, which is quite an indication of the growth in self-publishing since 2008. One other anniversary of note: today is the 7th anniversary of the Kindle. Coincidence?
Blurb, the popular platform for creating and publishing beautiful books, is co-sponsoring indie book review ezine Shelf Unbound’s Writing Competition for Best Independently Published Book. Blurb will award a total of $1,500 in printing services to the winner and finalists of this year’s competition, which will crown the best from independent and self-publishers. Bowker, the official U.S. ISBN registration agency and creator of SelfPublishedAuthor.com, is also a sponsor of this year’s competition.
Entries are being accepted now through October 1. The winning entry, selected by the editors of Shelf Unbound, will receive a prize package designed to help build their publishing business:

Book review magazine Shelf Unbound is accepting entries for its third annual competition to crown the best from independent presses, self-published authors and publishers producing five or less titles per year. The winning entry, selected by the editors of Shelf Unbound, will be featured with runners-up in the magazine's December/January 2015 issue – read by 125,000 book. This year's competition is sponsored by Bowker, the official U.S. ISBN registration agency and creator of SelfPublishedAuthor.com.
DCL and Bowker are interested in your digital publishing plans for 2014! As the demand increases for materials of all types to be available on mobile devices, publishers, authors and documentation managers are challenged with providing a quality ebook experience while managing costs and standards.
Your participation will prove invaluable to us as we continue to provide the highest level of service and educational support in the industry while meeting your growing demands. We look forward to your feedback!
This survey will take approximately five minutes to complete and will close this Saturday, May 31, 2014 at 11:59pm EDT.

This week you may read about various events related to the happenings around Book Expo America in New York City. Some of you may have been to the event. Some of you may wonder what it is about. Others may think, why bother?
What is Book Expo America?
Book Expo is a Trade Show:
Companies who provide publisher services (our booth location is DZ2156).
This means that a lot of people are doing business. People are exchanging business cards, engaging in business development conversations, perhaps trying to sell each other “stuff.”
Book Expo is a Circus:

On May 21, 2014, the Authors Alliance will hold a kick-off meeting at the Berkeley Center for New Media. From their announcement:
Authors, construed broadly to include all creators, create for all sorts of reasons. In academia in particular, it is not uncommon to write and create primarily for the specific purpose of being read, seen, and heard.